Celebrating 30 Years of Empire

[Jacob 0]

Some may have grown tired of Star Wars. I hope I never see that day. The characters, stories, and music (no matter how diluted their most recent forms) still give me a great a sense of childhood fun and adventure.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back. I just wanted to share some thoughts and memories.

As a kid, this one was never my favorite. It was 'the one where the good guys lose'. I always lost interest after the Battle of Hoth, ironically just when the real meat of the story begins. (I loved Hoth, by the way. Loved playing in the snow as a kid - could never have enough snow. Hoth was paradise.)

As a young adult I've since come to enjoy and appreciate it for the great film that it is. The themes and emotions have become more relevant and poignant. Crushing setbacks are experienced. The hero struggles. Big decisions are made, drastic consequences follow. But ultimately, good triumphs.

It's an uplifting catharsis experienced in both film and music that I'm grateful to be able to return to again and again.

The Rebel Fleet / End Title

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

It's as good as Star Wars will ever come.

[indy4 155]

It's a fantastic film, and the score is one of JW's best.

[steb74 53]

-- -- --

[MattyO 62]

I listened to the entire score last night and no other John Williams score quite makes me feel the gamut of emotions that Empire does. It is my favourite Star Wars film and score and the biggest example of why Lucas needed outside help if he wanted the prequels to succeed - happy 30th birthday to it!

[Trent B 337]

Empire Strikes Back is also my favorite Star Wars film and score and Mattyo I feel the same as you do about it.

[Red 75]

Empire is probably my favorite movie. It is the epitome of what Star Wars is for me, of the series as films and as a child love affair. No film has really affected my life quite like it, and like J Dan I hope it continues to for the rest of my days.

[steb74 53]

No film has really affected my life quite like it

That's something I feel very much and being part of the generation that watched it when it was first released is something that's quite difficult to put into words but it was such a special night and a couple of hours that has never left me.

The reason I think this had a different emotional effect than Star Wars is simply because that film had such a positive sense of jubilation and resolution that one left the cinema so full of good will and hope but after Empire and being a young boy, to feel such a deep sense of longing and even loss made a very profound imprint.

I'm still able to close my eyes, see and remember so many moments from that night and it's something I'm very grateful for and can't imagine ever forgetting.

Williams' score has been such a deeply close companion since then and I'm sure will forever continue to be.

[MattyO 62]

Another significant fact for me and Empire is when I finished my final high school exams, I purchased the 6-disc Sony set of the original trilogy scores and the first one I played was Empire. My connection with the film and score is relatively recent, but because it marked the end of high school and really the beginning of my foray into film scores - it is still at the top of my John Williams list and is probably my favourite score of all-time, I will always remember it as a rite of passage for me and for being the first score that made me sit up and say "I want to hear more!".

[Uni 306]

I still remember--quite vividly--the day I saw it for the first time. I was nine years old, and it was the first time I'd ever seen an epic adventure film where the good guys didn't win. I was unspeakably depressed when I got home that afternoon; I recall not wanting to eat dinner. Eventually, after seeing ROTJ resolve the whole thing three years later, I could finally look back and understand Empire's necessary place in the story.

And a great place it is. This story was seminal in my growth as a writer and storyteller. I honestly believe that this film taught me more about the mechanics of fiction than any work ever did. It's the essence of true conflict, physical, emotional, and spiritual. The first Star Wars may have been the greatest movie experience of my young life, and Jedi may have been a fun and uplifting ending to the trilogy, but Empire is unquestionably the superior film of the three. It demonstrated that Lucas did indeed have the vision and maturity to deal with deeper issues than an average Saturday afternoon action-space opera tends to provide.

Since then . . . "we have paid the price for his lack of vision." But nothing can take away his accomplishment with the second film of the original trilogy. It's his finest film ever, and I'm grateful to him for it.

- Uni

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I still remember the first time I saw ESB, on video. The first night I could only stay up to the part where the snowspeeders search for Luke and Han. Night 2 was the rest of the movie. One of the earliest images I remember is Luke backing out over that abyss and then hanging out the bottom of cloud city. That movie's the best.

[Datameister 2,042]

I'll just echo more of the same - fantastic film, fantastic score. Both go much deeper than Star Wars, which doesn't necessarily make them better. But they are deeper. Both Williams and Lucas were truly at the top of their game.

I will say this, though...Williams overscored the picture. I'm as glad that they cut out some of the music as I am grateful to nevertheless have it on CD.

[steb74 53]

I will say this, though...Williams overscored the picture. I'm as glad that they cut out some of the music as I am grateful to nevertheless have it on CD.

Why do you have to say this now when I'm going to bed, ha!

Not that I don't agree .....in some way but it's worth talking about.

Right then, sleep is calling me

[Trent B 337]

I will say this, though...Williams overscored the picture. I'm as glad that they cut out some of the music as I am grateful to nevertheless have it on CD.

I agree Williams did over-score the film. Glad decisions were made to cut some of the music out in the right spots. It's nice to hear the unused music though.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I'll never understand the fascination with these films.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

It's always been my favourite film and it always will be. My earliest memory is of a grainy VHS pirate copy my dad managed to get in 82. Ever since then, it's mesmerized me. It's such a rich film, there's so much detail, it's shot beautifully and it has the best writing of the lot, running the whole gamut of emotions. And the score is the absolute best. It's also so damn funny. Lucas tries hard to put humour in all of them, but for all the kudos ESB gets for being dark and tragic, it's also really, really funny, just through little touches, like when they're escaping from Cloud City and they find the hyperdrive is not working. Chewie's reactions are just hysterical, but also completely in-character.

It's just awe-inspiring.

[Datameister 2,042]

it's shot beautifully and it has the best writing of the lot, running the whole gamut of emotions.

Agreed - I'd say ESB is the most visually attractive of the OT films, easily, and the writing is just spot-on for the most part.

[aj_vader 534]

The Empire Strikes Back, Great Movie, Great Music, Great Experience!

Just 'The Imperial March' alone makes it awsome, also many other peices. The Asteroid Field gives me the shivers!

[Quintus 5,399]

The best in the series, a brilliant film, thanks to Irvin Kershner. So many classic scenes and the music remains to this day, silly-good (was Williams just showing off? )

Sadly I don't watch it very often nowadays. The prequels have tainted the OT, for me. I haven't seen Empire for nearly ten years.

[Ollie 1,059]

Star Wars is still my favorite but there's no denying that Empire is the best when it comes to script, directing and acting.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

You said they'd be left in the city under my supervision!

[Jacob 0]

I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further.

[Andy 4,123]

Star Wars still wins the nostalgia factor for me. But Empire is a better made film. My mom let me play hookey from 2nd grade to see Empire on opening day. I still have my movie program (remember those?) and the newspaper ad cut out from that day.

[artyjeffrey 20]

ESB was the last film to show the visual touch of John Barry before his sudden death.

[Uni 306]

Laugh it up, fuzzball. . . .

- Uni

[Quintus 5,399]

Boba Fett: What if he doesn't survive? He's worth a lot to me.

Darth Vader: The Empire will compensate you, if he dies. Put him in.

What a brilliant exchange of words. The idea that Vader would honour the deal is actually quite a profound one, for such a stereotypical villain as he. As ruthless as Vader is, I don't for an instant doubt the he would 'pay up' if anything was to happen to Solo, which is a testament to the quality of the writing - in a small moment like that it adds very real depth to his character. The scene also tells the audience how much of a badass Fett is - he wasn't afraid of raising his serious monetary concerns with one of the most feared men in the galaxy! It's little wonder he became a cult character.

I'd bet my house that Lucas didn't write that dialogue.

[Uni 306]

What a brilliant exchange of words. The idea that Vader would honour the deal is actually quite a profound one, for such a stereotypical villain such as he. As ruthless as Vader is, I don't for an instant doubt the he would 'pay up' if anything was to happen to Solo, which is a testament to the quality of the writing - in a small moment like that it adds very real depth to his character. The scene also tells the audience how much of a badass Fett is - he wasn't afraid of raising his serious monetary concerns with one of the most feared men in the galaxy! It's little wonder he became a cult character.

Outstanding point, Quint. I can't help but agree with everything you say here.

I'd bet my house that Lucas didn't write that dialogue.

An even more outstanding point, Quint. I'd double the bet.

- Uni

[steb74 53]

Another thing I find fascinating at how Vader's character is given more depth in Empire is how Williams seems to represent his twisted desperation and need of finding Luke and the posibility of having a relationship with him.

Listen to the music from the scene where Vader and the Emperor communicate and then the music just after Luke's hand is cut off.

For me it's no coincidence in how Williams scored these 2 scenes, I feel that each are from Vader's perspective, it's almost a terrified, twisted excitement.

The rising and falling high strings are struggling so much to make sense of themselves and perfectly represent Vader's obsession with Luke.

Unfortunately, no words I can write will do justice to how I feel this to be the case.

Just listen to the music instead ....also, not only do I think this perfectly underscores Vader's twisted obsession but it actually evokes feelings of pity for him, I think it's another Williams masterstroke.

At the start of the film it mentions Vader obsessed with finding Luke but when he speaks to the Emperor, the Emperor says there is a great disturbance in the force and that they have a new enemy ....not 'new' to Vader though and it's Vader's suggestion to 'turn' Luke and have him as a powerful ally.

The same later when Vader asks Luke to join him. It's so clear that Vader's feeling towards Luke go way beyond his duty to the Emperor and it's these feelings I feel Williams has scored so well.

What kind of screws this up a little is the altered Emperor dialogue in the newer versions of Empire.

[Ollie 1,059]

What Frank Oz did with Yoda is just fantastic and some of the best moments in the film. Yeah it's a muppet but damn if it doesn't feel like he's real.

Also can't say enough about David Prowse, yes James Earl Jones gave him his voice, but Prowse gives Vader such a physical presence.

I watch Empire and just wish Jedi and the prequels benefited from that kind of directing.

[Andy 4,123]

Actually, as much as Frank Oz made Yoda work, you gotta give credit to Mark Hamill for helping us believe in Yoda. I've always found Hamill's performance in Empire (and the whole trilogy really) to be underrated. His character undergoes the best arc, and in my opinion, he really helps to carry Empire.

[Trent B 337]

I watch Empire and just wish Jedi and the prequels benefited from that kind of directing.

I agree...if they had, then I bet you they would have turned out a lot better. Hell the Prequels could have probably actually tied to the Original Trilogy had they been given to people who could write the script and that more than just Lucas. Lucas seemed to forget some shit when he started the Prequels and half of it didn't really tie into the Original Trilogy until Revenge Of The Sith.

[artyjeffrey 20]

Lucas was, and is, not a good writer. He knows it, too. Always has.

That's what makes his decision to write the prequels so stunning. All of that money going into them, and he's staking it all on his own poor writing talent.

[Datameister 2,042]

Yup. He got so wrapped up in the fun of getting to do whatever he wanted to do, with no one to tell him no and (supposedly) no technological limitations, that the idea of actually making decent films got forgotten pretty early on.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Actually, as much as Frank Oz made Yoda work, you gotta give credit to Mark Hamill for helping us believe in Yoda. I've always found Hamill's performance in Empire (and the whole trilogy really) to be underrated. His character undergoes the best arc, and in my opinion, he really helps to carry Empire.

Luke was the coolest in Empire. He was in that between phase where he was juggling a gun and a lightsaber. He had the better haircut, better wardrobe, he was buff and he looked less boyish and more rugged following his facial reconstruction. Looked like he lost most of his body mass in ROTJ and the black priest outfit (as cool as that one is) didn't really help in that regard.

[Datameister 2,042]

Yeah, Luke is definitely at his best in ESB - another important factor in the movie's success. He's not the whiny kid from ANH, and he's not the prequel-foreshadowingly solemn figure from ROTJ. Those extremes are a little too stereotypical and a little too annoying. In ESB, he feels more like a human we can sympathize with.

[Jacob 0]

I watch Empire and just wish Jedi and the prequels benefited from that kind of directing.

Apparently so did Kersh:

Were you pleased with the next film, Return of the Jedi?

It didn't quite work for me. It was a nice picture but I expected something different. I thought it would be a different kind of film. It had fabulous stuff in it but it didn't work for me.

http://www.starwars.com/hyperspace/member/insideronline/11/indexp2.html?page=5

And then there's this bit from the same interview about the then future prequels:

Fans of the saga can certainly see that you put your heart and soul into the film. It certainly stands on its own and lives up to the previous film which is truly a feat coming off the success of such an amazing film as Star Wars.

I think it could still be done with Parts I, II and III. I don't think it's a matter of better special effects either. They have that pretty much down to a science. I think the thing to concentrate on is really the emotional story. People are expecting a lot but you can give them that. You've got to give them some interesting new characters they've never seen before. You've got to give them some interesting action, but you've got to give them some emotional involvement that grabs them so that they have suspense. You must have suspense in these first three films. George doesn't want to go backwards, that's why he's taking his time and I don't blame him. But you have to go forward with the new films. And George Lucas is a forward-thinking individual. I have no doubts that the new Star Wars films will be everything people expect them to be!

http://www.starwars.com/hyperspace/member/insideronline/11/indexp2.html?page=6

Even considering myself a fan of the Prequels, reading that hurts a bit.

[Demondm810 399]

Fail.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

Yeah, Luke is definitely at his best in ESB - another important factor in the movie's success. He's not the whiny kid from ANH, and he's not the prequel-foreshadowingly solemn figure from ROTJ. Those extremes are a little too stereotypical and a little too annoying. In ESB, he feels more like a human we can sympathize with.

The thing is, and this is what's great about Luke's arc (and so frustrating about Anakin's), all of his forms are completely appropriate, if stereotypical (or archetypal). Yeah, he's whiny in SW, but it's a pretty universal theme of being so frustrated at being so far, far away from where you want to be, either metaphorically or physically, and the aspiration of what your life could be. And by ROTJ, he's on what is essentially a suicide mission. He's almost purged the pain of what happened on Bespin, and he seems that he's accepted that if he dies doing what must be done, then that'll be his fate. And as such, he's on his way to being what Ben was in SW. And while I'm not the biggest detractor of ROTJ, that through-line is by far the most successful thing in the film.

And it bugs the shit out of me that, in the prequels, this whole attachment business is treated as an absolute evil, whereas in the OT the whole reason the galaxy is saved is because of Luke's attachment to his father.

[Ollie 1,059]

http://www.thatvideosite.com/video/1950s_rendition_of_the_empire_strikes_back

[Jacob 0]

Nice.

[Andy 4,123]

That was well done. Good use of Radio Drama dialogue.

[crocodile 8,006]

First SW film I've ever seen and the only one that I'm eager to see again and again. And yeah, the score is one of the best ever. Sorry, Star Wars.

Karol

[Red 75]

Is today the day?

[Wojo 2,453]

It is.

[Ollie 1,059]

Wow.....I was 12 years old.....

[Wojo 2,453]

My folks had been married less than three weeks. I was nowhere to be found.

[crocodile 8,006]

My folks had been married less than three weeks. I was nowhere to be found.

Maybe you existed as an idea. It does count, at least from more intellectual point of view

Karol

[Wojo 2,453]

I don't want this to become a lesson in mammalian reproduction, but half of me would have been around to be in the same theater as Empire.

But my parents didn't get into Star Wars until I was in fifth grade. I highly doubt they saw any of them on the big screen.

[crocodile 8,006]

That's more like it.

My mom went to see some screening of TESB (it was in 1984, so a bit later) when she was still pregnant. Later, she said that I looked like this small little creature with these big ears when I was finally born. I still don't know how to take that.

Karol - who has nothing against lessons about mammalian reproduction

[Ollie 1,059]

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/video/empire-strikes-back-30th-anniversary-film-screening-10699153&tab=9482931&section=1206836&playlist=2898870&page=1